


The Underdogs

by NL7



Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: (invented) Slovenian Legend, (sort of), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spirit Animals, Tags WILL be changed when I actually start posting this fic lmao, Were-Creatures, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25732015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NL7/pseuds/NL7
Summary: Perkz' roommate has a weird habit: about twice a week, he sneaks out at night and disappears until early in the morning. Now, Perkz probably wouldn't even bat an eye at this, if only his roommate didn't suck at making excuses...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	The Underdogs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Floraly_fic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floraly_fic/gifts).



Among the legends told to Slovenian children at nightfall, many were similar through their characters and their heroic adventures. But there was always one that kept coming back…

_Once upon a time, hidden between the pine forests in the Slovenian mountains, there was a small village full of men and mysteries. There lived a people who had a particular feature: they could shift into spirit animals, symbol of their own spirit or their family’s spirit._

_Of course, not everyone was lucky enough to see themselves inherit this gift. Only the bravest of the brave, who had overcome numerous ordeals on their way, could flaunt their animal shape. A gift that was also a burden, for once it was unveiled this part of their spirit needed to be freed often, otherwise their human part would suffer from the emptiness._

_This story was a hero’s, who despite his young age was gifted with the ability to shift into a salamander, a quick and nimble animal able to weave in and out of every nook thanks to its small size. His parents looked at him with love, but himself felt nothing but resentment regarding his animal shape. While his neighbours shifted into wolves, eagles and even bears… Himself had nothing but his small size and his dexterity to flee their mocking comments and their relentless harassment._

_In those days, a lovely young girl with honey-blond hair and sad eyes lived in the village. Able to shift into the most graceful swallow, she could have made fall under her spell any of her suitors, if only she had wanted to. The beautiful woman did not think about them however, too busy as she was turning a ring on her finger, the only reminder she had from her late mother disappeared a few years earlier._

_One day, as she was coming back from the fountain, the piece of jewelry slipped from her finger. After a resounding bounce, the ring began to roll, roll and roll. Before the girl could catch it, the precious object had lodged itself in a crack between two houses, inaccessible._

_The villagers tried everything in their power to retrieve the object. From a string with a hook to a long solid stick, there were a lot of strategies set up by the most brilliant minds of the village, but unfortunately, no one managed to find how to extract the ring from its hiding place. For once, the majestic wolves, the powerful bears and the royal eagles were all left powerless in front of the young girl’s despair._

_A creature, however, could have been able to turn the situation around. A body thin enough to slide between the walls, legs deft enough to fight his way through the narrow hall… The task seemed trivial for a small salamander._

_They sent a delegation to knock at the door of the young man they knew to be gifted with the ability to shift into this animal. The door opened wide. He listened to the formal explanations his neighbours were delivering him, he heard how solemnly they were requesting him to come to the rescue of the poor woman in distress. The faces that were massing at his door this day were the same that sent him mocking smirks, vicious comments and scornful looks on a daily basis. The same people who treated him like a nobody were all at once asking for his help, as if it were owed. It was not._

_He opened his mouth to refuse, but his attention was suddenly caught by the sparkle of a glistening gaze. Two jet-black eyes were staring at him with hope, from an innocent face devoid of any gullibility. Our hero recognized the young girl who had lost her mother a few years earlier. Her sorrow hit him with full force, moving him to the core._

_The hardship he had to put up with did not justify for him to let another human being live through the same kind of suffering. His answer changed on his lips, and the relieved smile he got in return would not have been worth all the refusals in the world._

_In his hide of salamander, he slipped between the two houses that were holding the ring trapped in their vice. Struggling to grab the object, stuck even further because of the villagers’ vain attempts, our hero finally managed to pull it out of the cavity. When the amphibian climbed on the young girl’s hand to give her back her good, there was silence around them._

_A wise silence, during which a gleam of respect arose in the other villagers’ look that had never shone there before._

_From that day, the inhabitants’ comments against the young man began to disappear into thin air. The villagers had realized that the strength and power they were boasting so much about themselves could not be enough to face every situation. They had discovered that in reality, there was unity in similarity, and that there was strength in diversity._

_The End._

This tale, although looking trifling, filled the children’s thoughts with dreams and left them pondering. The moral of the story didn’t matter much to them to be fair, but each child was thinking about an animal they would like to shift into, from the fierce lion for the most reckless to the small mouse for the smartest. The childish ramblings made the parents smile tenderly, before they pulled the blankets upward and left a good night kiss on their forehead.

Full of dreams, the children then fell asleep, peaceful.

And in the innocence of their thoughts, none of them even suspected that maybe, those dreams could be the reality.


End file.
